Microwave heating may be utilized to remove moisture from moisture-laden ceramic forming, or ceramic, articles by providing microwave energy directly to the ceramic material being dried. However, fundamental non-uniformity in the exposed electromagnetic fields, resulting from the various modes existing inside of a microwave drying apparatus and inside the ceramic article, may lead to various drying challenges. For example, drying processes utilizing microwave heating may produce unevenly dried ceramic articles placed on microwave drying trays or tray assemblies such that some interior portions of the ceramic article may not be completely dried (i.e., cold regions) and other portions may be over heated (i.e., hot regions).
Accordingly, a need exists for alternative tray assemblies and methods for manufacturing ceramic articles.